The Hordes

 [European Starlings thronging to Eastern Redcedar berries in Stone Harbor, NJ on Sunday.]

I guess I was hoping for something fancier when I went to Stone Harbor today, but the highlight had to be the flock of several thousand European Starlings devouring eastern redcedar berries, poison ivy berries, sumac berries, and probably foods I didn't notice on the Nummy Island causeway.  It was a real spectacle, one I'm sure the native birds that were looking forward to these foods probably didn't appreciate.

[European Starlings, Stone Harbor today. The buff feather tips will wear off over the course of the winter, leaving the birds in fine, dark glossy green-black breeding plumage come springtime.]